Thomas R. Gavin, associate director of flight projects and mission
success at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. is being
honored as a fellow of the American Astronautical Society.
Gavin will receive the prestigious award at the society’s national
conference in Houston on November 19. He is being recognized for his
many unique contributions to astronautics during his 40-year career at
JPL. "I owe this honor to the hard work of all the engineers at JPL
who work on the flight projects," Gavin said.
Gavin has served in his current position since May 2001. Since joining
JPL in 1962, he has held a variety of engineering and management
positions, including mission assurance manager for both the Voyager
and Galileo projects, spacecraft system manager for the Cassini
mission to Saturn and deputy director for space and Earth science
programs. Prior to his current assignment, he was the director for
space science flight projects.
He received NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal in 1981 for his work on
Voyager, NASA’s Medal for Outstanding Leadership in 1991 for Galileo,
and NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal in 1999 for Cassini. In 1997,
he received the Aviation Week and Space Technology magazine’s Laurels
Award for outstanding achievement in the field of space. He received
his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Villanova University
and lives in Canyon Country with his wife.
The American Astronautical Society is one of the few independent
scientific and technical groups in the country exclusively dedicated
to the advancement of space science and exploration. The society
promotes research and engineering of various sciences required for the
exploration of outer space and beyond.
